]]>Once again, a hard Brexiter has let the mask slip on workers’ rights.

Speaking to the BBC yesterday, Lord Harris – a multi-millionaire, retail tycoon and Tory peer – claimed that Brexit would ‘give younger people more opportunity’ because they could work longer hours in his shops.

“We can only keep our staff on for 35 hours a week,” the Carpetright founder complained. In other words, his problem with the EU is that it gives workers too many rights.

Although he doesn’t even understand the laws he’s so keen to be rid of, since the European Working Time Directive actually sets a limit of 48 hours a week on the amount someone can be required to work.

It’s not a restrictive regulation or an attack on business, it’s a common sense law that protects people from being forced to work unhealthy hours.

Still no guarantees

Since the vote for Brexit, the government has brushed off concerns that working people will be worse off outside the EU. Theresa May has promised to “ensure that workers’ rights are fully protected and maintained”.

And we’re getting to crunch time on this issue. Next month, the government will present its Repeal Bill to parliament. The bill is supposed to transfer about 12,000 EU regulations into British law, but trade unions are concerned that working rights will be diluted in the process.

]]>https://touchstoneblog.org.uk/2017/08/tory-peer-says-brexit-good-young-workers-theyll-fewer-rights/feed/1The BBC can afford millions for the talent, but other staff are denied a fair wagehttps://touchstoneblog.org.uk/2017/07/bbc-can-afford-millions-talent-staff-denied-fair-wage/
https://touchstoneblog.org.uk/2017/07/bbc-can-afford-millions-talent-staff-denied-fair-wage/#commentsFri, 21 Jul 2017 06:00:18 +0000http://touchstoneblog.org.uk/?p=45819Over the last two days, we’ve seen wall-to-wall coverage of what the BBC’s leading lights get paid. That’s not surprising. Few stories offer such a perfect mix of celebrity gossip, financial drama and political intrigue. Of course journalists are going to jump on this one. But more than 20,000 people work at the BBC — and this…

]]>Over the last two days, we’ve seen wall-to-wall coverage of what the BBC’s leading lights get paid.

That’s not surprising. Few stories offer such a perfect mix of celebrity gossip, financial drama and political intrigue. Of course journalists are going to jump on this one.

But more than 20,000 people work at the BBC — and this story should be about more than the richest 96.

While the media has focused on the top talent, the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union (BECTU) is talking about the BBC’s lowest-paid workers instead.

They point out that while top management earn hundreds of thousands — and some stars earn millions — over 2,500 BBC staff are on less than £20,000 a year.

“It is totally unacceptable that the BBC is prepared to pay senior management and others many times that amount,” BECTU leader Gerry Morrissey told the Press Association. “There should be a lot more focus on giving low-paid staff a living wage.”

Across the broadcasting industry, engineers, runners, technical and production staff work long hours to keep shows running. Many of those workers are young. They enter at the bottom grade, hoping to get a foothold in the industry. Morrissey warns this can create space for exploitation.

While inequality exists across the industry, the BBC is a public sector employer and can be held to account for how it uses taxpayers’ contributions — both at the top and the bottom of the pay scale.

Inequality

The salary list also shows a significant gender pay gap at the top of the BBC, and a severe under-representation of BAME staff.

Although there’s a long way to go, the BBC recognises that this is a problem. In theory at least, it’s committed to taking action. These efforts should reach beyond the top tiers of the organisation to include lower-paid female and BAME workers.

But while the corporation is willing to accept that it has problem with gender inequality, BECTU reports resistance from management when it raises pay inequality more generally.

The treatment of behind-the-scenes staff isn’t as juicy as Graham Norton or Chris Evans’s pay. But if we care about fair pay in the BBC, they’re two sides of the same coin.